Archives for January 2017

Sales in the Small Pickup segment grew by 25.5 percent in 2016, making it the second-fastest-growing segment, and significantly outpacing the 2.5 percent growth rate of the Large Pickup segment. Morevoer, there is much more scope for growth in the segment, a fact recognized by Honda when it decided to develop the second-generation Ridgeline that went on sale in 2016. Still, with 448,399 sales in 2016 the segment was only a fifth of the size of the Large Pickup segment, and remains smaller than it was a decade ago (sales in 2006 were 562,657). With the recent introduction of the Ridgeline and the heaviliy-modified-for-2016 Toyota Tacoma 2017 is unlikely to bring new metal, with Nissan taking its sweet time with the replacement for the Frontier and Jeep with the long-awaited pickup version of the Wrangler.

Sales in the Large SUV segment increased by 21.8 percent in 2016, making it the second-fastest growing segment, behind the 44.1 percent achieved by the Subcompact SUV segment, but ahead of the 21.0 percent achieved by the Premium Compact SUVsegment. What’s even more remarkable is that this growth was driven by a surge in the second half of the year that saw sales rise by 34.9 percent, the fastest growth from among segments. Still, the lower year-0n-year growth saw the Large SUV segment fall behind the Subcompact SUV segment in sales terms, making it the smallest mainstream SUV segment, with 2016 sales of 344,235 only a little over half of what they were in 2006 (620,283). 2017 may finally see the introduction of an all-new Ford Expedition, a car that by some measures could be thought of as the oldest mass-produced model on the US market (even though theoretically in its third generation, the current Expedition can trace its roots to the first model introduced in 1997, which is obvious when you compare the doors or the windows).

Sales in the Mid-sized SUV segment increased by 4.4 percent in 2016 to a total of 1,803,382 units, a slightly faster rate of growth then the Compact SUV segment, but considerably slower than the double-digit growth registered by the other two, smaller mainstream SUV segments. 2017 will see the introduction of the new, super-conservative VW Atlas, as well as the second-generation Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and the smaller (“right-sized”) GMC Acadia. [Read more…]

Sales in the Compact SUV segment increased by 3.9 percent compared to 2015, to a grand total of 3,067,307 cars sold. This is quite the result – not only does this give the segment a big lead over the second-largest segment, Mid-sized with 2,311,850 sales, but it is the first time ever any one segment has crossed the 3 million threshold. With a bevy of new models entering the market in 2017 (Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Honda CR-V, Jeep Compass and Mazda CX-5) it is reasonable to expect the segment will continue growing in the future, as it solidifies its position as the golden middle of the market, and a firm family-favorite.

Sales in the Subcompact SUV segment surged by a whopping 44.1 percent compared to 2015, the fastest rate of growth by far in 2016, and more than double that recorded by the second-fastest growing segment, Large SUV. What’s more, with 396,960 sales in 2016 the Subcompact SUV segment surpassed the Large SUV segment in sales for the first time, and should reach half a million sales in either 2017 or 2018. However, it’s important to keep in mind that, for all its growth, the segment remains relatively small compared to the other SUV segments: 2016 saw over 1.8 million Mid-sized SUVs being sold, as well as almost 3.1 million Compact SUVs. [Read more…]

Sales in the Minivan segment grew by 8.1 percent in the 2016, making it the only mainstream segment to gain sales in 2016. With total sales of 553,913 the segment is now within 30,000 units of the quickly-shrinking Subcompact segment, which is quite the comeback for the once-favorite family mover that has suffered greatly in recent years as consumers switch over to crossovers and SUVs. 2017 may be better still as the new Chrysler Pacifica comes into its own and the new Honda Odyssey goes on sale, though it could be that sales of the aging Dodge Grand Caravan start sliding considerably, as that could drag the whole segment down.

Sales in the Large segment fell by 6.4 percent in 2016, which puts it in the middle of the pack as far as mainstream segments are concerned – better than the Minicarand Mid-sizedsegments, but worse than the Subcompact, Compactand Minivan segments. With 443,317 sales, it remains the second smallest mainstream segment after the Minicar segment, though the Subcompact and Minivan segments remain within reach of around 100,000 units. However, with little new metal on the horizon it remains unlikely that sales in the segment will rise anytime soon, as models such as Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300 and Ford Taurus are nearing their “sell by” date with no replacements due anytime soon. [Read more…]

Salesin the Mid-sized segment fell by 10.1 percent in 2016, a performance so bad it almost matched the 11.0 percent fall in sales registered by the Minicar segment (the worst among all mainstream segments). Midsized cars used to be the segment where the money was made, even when SUVs and crossovers started to gain a foothold in the US car market during the 1990s and early 2000s. But that boom has started to pick up speed this year, fueled by hot new models and affordable gas. In contrast there haven’t been many major model updates in the midsized segment lately. As a result, the largest-selling segment in 2016 by far was Compact SUVs (sales up 3.9 percent), with Mid-sized cars coming in second, followed closely by the Large Pickups and Compact segments (sales up 3.6 and down 4.5 percent, respectively). With new models like Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima failing to connect with buyers, only the new Toyota Camry and Honda Accord stand between the segment and losing third spot in the standings to the Large Pickups segment.

The Chinese car market is one of the most diverse in the world, with almost 500 locally produced passenger car models from more than 70 domestic and foreign brands, as you can see in our 2016 Chinese car sales analysis. If we include imported vehicles, minivans, pickups and commercial vehicles, there are more than 1.000 different models available. In the December 2016 China car sales ranking, we welcome 10 new models: 5 SUVs, 2 sedans, one MPV and an EV, including a new brand, the fifth domestic new brand this year (offsetting the demise of 3). As a bonus, I’ll also throw in an interesting 11th model which isn’t entirely new (it’s been on sale since July), but for which we didn’t have sales figures available yet.

Soueast Motors, a joint venture of Fujian Auto, CMC of Taiwan and Mitsubishi, has struggled to reach sustainable volume in its home market, as its line-up of sedans based on out-of-production Mitsubishi cars failed to keep up with rising demands of Chinese car buyers. That changed in 2015 when the brand launched its first crossover DX7 Bolang, which was designed with the help of Italy’s famous design house Pininfarina, and which immediately became the brand’s best selling model with more than three quarters of total brand sales. In December, that model was accompanied by a smaller crossover called DX3, which also was co-designed by Pininfarina. In its first month of sales, the DX3 immediately outsold its larger sibling and the two crossovers took a combined 92,5% of Soueast volume, a very promising start for the newcomer that’s intended to double the brand’s sales in this year after topping 100.000 sales for the first time ever in 2016. [Read more…]

Sales in the Compact segment fell steadily throughout 2016, thought the rate of decline slowed down slightly as the year progressed. Still, sales in 2016 ended up 4.5 percent below the level reached in 2015, making this the first time that overall sales in the segment declined year-on-year since the market collapsed in 2009. Moreover, the decline is driven by most models losing sales to some degree or another, with only four cars that were sold all year long in 2015 and 2016 registering positive growth in 2016: Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, Subaru Impreza and Kia Forte[Read more…]